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How bizarre
Jun. 22nd, 2007 11:20 pmToday's shift was painless, and I got a few households who took up large chunks of the shift - one four adult family lasted 1 hour 40 minutes - meaning the time flew. But that was only the beginning of the story.
At 1.20 Lorna randomly approached me and asked if I'd be willing to work from 2 till 4 filling envelopes. Having established that that was all that was required of me (ie that I wouldn't find myself doing extra time on the phones) I readily agreed. So at 2 pm she led me round to another section of the office, where a kindly lady showed me what to do - basically picking out print-outs of addresses and people involved in the survey, putting them in envelopes to send to field managers and field interviewers, sticking labels on the envelopes and stamping them 'First Class'. Pleasant way to earn an extra £13.
As I walked towards the main gate on my way out, I saw a bus go by and got a sinking feeling I'd missed a direct bus to Gosport. Then 4.10 came and went, with no sign of a bus... By 4.25 I'd begun to despair and was considering going back into the office and asking if anyone about to knock off could give me a lift, when salvation arrived - a direct Gosport bus.
Stayed on until Gosport town centre. Went to Zodiac discount store but they were out of tissues, so had to make do with a six-pack from Superdrug. Home to dump my bag and fetch more money and my library ticket, and bussed back into town: I'd decided, on a whim, to borrow the DVD of Sixty Six from the library. On the way home, got off the bus at Waitrose and picked up a Special Edition boxed bottle of Innis & Gunn.
To the White Hart in the evening, in the hope that they'd show the Great Britain v France rugby league on Sky Sports 3. When I arrived I asked a friendly barmaid if they'd put it on : "All right, then," she smiled, and they did. They didn't have any Greene King IPA today; the barman recommended 'Belhaven Best' so I tried a pint. They clearly had it on promotion, as there were little signs all over the bar advertising it and even the glass bore the Belhaven Best logo. Quite a pleasant beer.
As I sat down, I spotted someone in clown costume walking across the floor. It soon became clear that it was fancy dress night when Fred and Wilma Flintstone entered the pub, followed shortly after by a medieval lord and lady. During the opening minutes of the rugby, music - but instrumental tracks, with the vocals removed - played, then a hostess announced the beginning of Karaoke night. She ran through some of the costumes people were wearing - "we have John [Travolta] and Olivia [Newton-John], and Mr and Mrs Simpson." The ball went out of play and I turned. Sure enough, Homer and Marge were sitting at the front table, and I could now recognise the clown as not just any old clown, but Krusty. Later, around half-time, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne joined the merry throng.
I'd found a quiet corner where I was able to watch the match while listening to the Karaoke performances - several very good, and the bad ones were still entertaining. As a bonus, during a quiet period for requests the hostess gave us a mint rendition of Don't Marry Her. And Great Britain won 46-14, with Quins' own Paul Sykes scoring a try.
Home for Balderdash & Piffle and the Innis & Gunn. Before the programme started my mother told me Hardcore Sue had rung, so I called her back once Balderdash had ended (it turned out to have been my invitation to her to join Facebook that prompted her call) and we had a jolly good chinwag.
At 1.20 Lorna randomly approached me and asked if I'd be willing to work from 2 till 4 filling envelopes. Having established that that was all that was required of me (ie that I wouldn't find myself doing extra time on the phones) I readily agreed. So at 2 pm she led me round to another section of the office, where a kindly lady showed me what to do - basically picking out print-outs of addresses and people involved in the survey, putting them in envelopes to send to field managers and field interviewers, sticking labels on the envelopes and stamping them 'First Class'. Pleasant way to earn an extra £13.
As I walked towards the main gate on my way out, I saw a bus go by and got a sinking feeling I'd missed a direct bus to Gosport. Then 4.10 came and went, with no sign of a bus... By 4.25 I'd begun to despair and was considering going back into the office and asking if anyone about to knock off could give me a lift, when salvation arrived - a direct Gosport bus.
Stayed on until Gosport town centre. Went to Zodiac discount store but they were out of tissues, so had to make do with a six-pack from Superdrug. Home to dump my bag and fetch more money and my library ticket, and bussed back into town: I'd decided, on a whim, to borrow the DVD of Sixty Six from the library. On the way home, got off the bus at Waitrose and picked up a Special Edition boxed bottle of Innis & Gunn.
To the White Hart in the evening, in the hope that they'd show the Great Britain v France rugby league on Sky Sports 3. When I arrived I asked a friendly barmaid if they'd put it on : "All right, then," she smiled, and they did. They didn't have any Greene King IPA today; the barman recommended 'Belhaven Best' so I tried a pint. They clearly had it on promotion, as there were little signs all over the bar advertising it and even the glass bore the Belhaven Best logo. Quite a pleasant beer.
As I sat down, I spotted someone in clown costume walking across the floor. It soon became clear that it was fancy dress night when Fred and Wilma Flintstone entered the pub, followed shortly after by a medieval lord and lady. During the opening minutes of the rugby, music - but instrumental tracks, with the vocals removed - played, then a hostess announced the beginning of Karaoke night. She ran through some of the costumes people were wearing - "we have John [Travolta] and Olivia [Newton-John], and Mr and Mrs Simpson." The ball went out of play and I turned. Sure enough, Homer and Marge were sitting at the front table, and I could now recognise the clown as not just any old clown, but Krusty. Later, around half-time, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne joined the merry throng.
I'd found a quiet corner where I was able to watch the match while listening to the Karaoke performances - several very good, and the bad ones were still entertaining. As a bonus, during a quiet period for requests the hostess gave us a mint rendition of Don't Marry Her. And Great Britain won 46-14, with Quins' own Paul Sykes scoring a try.
Home for Balderdash & Piffle and the Innis & Gunn. Before the programme started my mother told me Hardcore Sue had rung, so I called her back once Balderdash had ended (it turned out to have been my invitation to her to join Facebook that prompted her call) and we had a jolly good chinwag.
